Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-12-28
NAPHTHA IN A SEWER.
Four People Killed and Much Property
Destroyed.


Destroyed.
A dispatch of the Dist from Rochester,
n. Y, says: Shortly before 4 o'clock
this afternoon a terrific explosion oc-
Cured in front of the Poole flour mill
on Mill Street, at the foot OF Factory
Street. The shock was felt for long
distance Only few secords after the
first explosion another followed and an
other and another in rapid succession,
Instantly flames burst from the Poole
mill and the rear walls fell In. The tire
burned with great fury and although
the workmen fastened to get out, 1t is
feared some have persisted In the flames.
1t was only a few minutes be ore the
Washington mill, adjoining the burning
structure, was also on ire, and thence
the flames communicated TO other build
ings. One Of the Workmen jumped from
the third story of the Poole mill and is
seriously injured. Another escaped by
jumping into the race. The cause OF the
explosion was that the sewers in the vi
cinitv we're filled with naphtha. To-day
14.0CO gallons of naphtha were pumped
from the vacuum oil works throuh
the pipe line in the bed of the
old canal. It was intended for the
municipal gas company, but one or more
breaks in the line allowed the naphtha
to escape into the adjoining sewers.
When the sewers became surcharged
with the gas it escaped into the mills,
and exploded there or elsewhere, and
the fire made its way through the mains
in the middle ofthe street. throwing out
the manhole covers and tearing up the
roadway. In the vicinity of the fire
and up Mill and State Streets, as
far as Market Street, three-quar-
tess of mile, people were running in
every direction and frequent explosions
terrified them the more. The explo-
sions continued at such frequent inter
walls for the first half hour that the peo-
pie were deferred from getting any
where near the fire. Women and chill
dren were running around crying and
screaming, thinking their brothers, hus
bands or other relatives were IN tn
mill.
1t is not known whether all the mill
employees escaped. The walls of the
Jefferson mill fell in about o'clock and
it is feared there are several men buried
under them. The engineer of the Gin
ton mill and two companions were
standing near the front of the mill when
the explosion occurred. They retained
sufficient presence of mind to shut of
the steam and get out of the mill. There
were six person at work in the Clinton
mill, four of whom escaped through
the water wheel. At the time of writ
ing, ll:30 P. NJ, the fire is under control.
The explosions ceased about hali-past
6 o'clock and no more danger is appre-
hended from them. The explosions COW
cred q wide eXpanse of territory. Man
holes over sewers on Mill, Lewis, Main,
fremont, Smith, Jay. Factory, Race,
OF
blown of by the force of the explosions
and great deal of the paving around
them was torn up. Windows were shat
tered in many buildings in the vicinity
and the shock was felt all over a large
area. The tunnel through which the
burning naphtha flowed for several
hours is the largest sewer In the city and
is the outlet for the sewers on the west
side. How badly damaged this is can
not be estimated. The fire must have
extended distance OF several hundred
feet in the sewer.
The killed so far as known are Fred
Wilson and E. A. Webster. John Lee,
employed at the Peoples mill has not
been accounted for, and up to this hour
it is thought that he is dead in the tun-
mel.
The aggregate damage is hard to esti-
are known: Washington mill and
contents, $4,000; insurance, $780,
600; Jefferson mill and con-
tents, $4,000; insurance, $4,000;
Clinton mill and contents, $4,000; in
surance, $4,000. At midnight it is be-
Heved that tour persons are killed.
These are Frederick Wilson, Edward A.
Webster, Abraham Rogers and John
Lee. The last nameS is missing and it is
supposed was burned to death in the
Clinton mill. The injured will number
at least twenty.
ROCHESTER, n. Y, Dec. 22.-The lower
end of Mill Street presented desolate
spectacle this morning. The street was
torn up in all directions by the force of
the explosions of naphtha last
evening. The windows of surround
ing buildings which escaped the
flames were shattered. A stone from
one of the falling buildings was
thrown 100 feet through second story
window of one of the factories and
shattered 500-pound iron wheel. Great
clouds of smoke and steam are still ris-
ing from the ruins Portions of detached
wall are leaning at seemingly impossible
angles, and threatening every moment
to fail. Streams of water from every
available source are playing upon the
ruins, which are still red hot in places.
1t Is not probable that the ruins will
be cool enough to permit search for
the bodies of any who may have per-
ished before tonight or possibly to-
morrow. Even then the search must
be attended with great caution on ac-
count OF the unsupported walls still
standing. The general impression is
that there must be several bodies in
the ruins. Fred Wilson and E. A. Web
eter are known to have been killed.
Abraham Rogers and John Lee are
missing. The injured number twenty
DANIEL, uAEyryC nEAn